A Quiet Week

It's been a quiet week at my house. My wife and I are here, but my mother-in-law, who lives with us, is in California for two weeks. As we were traveling last week, we have not felt much drive to go anywhere, so we have done what was necessary, including going to work as required, but otherwise sat at home.

I am reading East of Eden, by John Steinbeck. When I started it, I noticed immediately his use of language. I understand some of the criticisms of the novel, but the writing is certainly of high quality. It was rather a sharp contrast to the Terry Pratchett books I had been reading. I mention that because I read a commentary on Terry Pratchett written shortly after he died that said, rather baldly, that Pratchett was not a literary genius. No, he wasn't, but I enjoyed his books.

Steinbeck, on the other hand, won a Nobel Prize for literature, which meant a lot to me until Bob Dylan got one. Sure, giving a prize for literature that compares writing from all over the world is problematic, but all the books I've read from Nobel laureates have impressed me in some ways. I may have to dig deeper into Bob Dylan's oeuvre before I judge too strongly. My daughter asked me why I bother with Steinbeck. She finds his work depressing. A lot of it is. But it's still good.

I found this copy of East of Eden in my mother-in-law's room, probably left by my son, who had the room before. There are notes in the margins in sloppy pencil. I like reading printed books. I can read on a Kindle, but I'd rather have a book in my hands.

I took a survey on the BBC News website recently. There were a lot of questions about videos. I don't watch videos on websites, or only rarely. I do still look around for animations that help illustrate physiology. It can help to see the opening and closing of ion channels when trying to learn how a nerve impulse works. But news clips are usually short and limited. I want something I can read, something that has details and analysis. I read bits on Fox News sometimes, but I'm usually disappointed because they have no analysis, and only partial stories. It's like the opening paragraph from a real newspaper or website.

I expect that I am outside the norm in that sense, because most sites have all kinds of links to videos. That seems to be the focus. Slate Magazine has a lot of podcasts. FiveThirtyEight has videos and podcasts. Someone must like them. Even The New York Times, online, has a lot of video, which I ignore. I'm more into words and actual content than presentation, which it seems to me is what video is about. I don't care what a reporter looks like. I want a reporter to ask the right questions, provide the right context, and give a deep analysis, as much as possible. I don't want to be distracted by personality, appearance, voice quality, or other irrelevancies. I usually don't watch political debates. I read the reports about them. This is too often superficial and mostly useless, because the questions seem to be chosen for entertainment value, and the time given for answers only allows trivial coverage, even if the question is about something important.

So I spent a week sitting in the living room reading. And I loved it. I'd like to do this again.